Identification? 5 String bass

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jimc_hjones
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Identification? 5 String bass

Post by jimc_hjones » Thu Oct 13, 2022 6:58 pm

This 5 string bass has come into my hands: it's clearly had something of a hard life. It's going to get a gentle refurbishment with a view to passing it on, but how did it start life? Apparently it had an active preamp at some stage, and comes with a sticker saying Peavey Custom shop and a rather unlikely serial number of two zeros, five identical digits and another zero. It would be good to know what model it is and how it looked when it left the shop.
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studiodtk5
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Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by studiodtk5 » Sat Jan 07, 2023 6:16 am

Either a Cirrus or a Grind. I think it was a Cirrus.

How have you come on the refurbishment?
Darren
ITOC: 08-00190

Peavey stuff I have: Masterpiece 50, Custom Shop 212, Stereo Chorus 212, T-60, T-40, Signature Select, Odyssey II Prototype, Generation Custom EXP, Firenza P90-ACM, VB-2, Stomp Boxes, Radial Pro 1000, lots of mics, etc...

kodiakblair
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Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by kodiakblair » Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:58 am

studiodtk5 wrote:
Sat Jan 07, 2023 6:16 am
Either a Cirrus or a Grind. I think it was a Cirrus.

How have you come on the refurbishment?
Owner of 5 Cirrus and 3 Grinds here, OP's bass is neither.

It's a Zephyr, later called the C-5.

They were released in 1999 and only sold in Europe. There were 4 & 5 string models in bolt on or neck through options.All were passive ,2 Vol/2 Tone.
Soapbars are slightly different from those found in the Grind being 4 wire instead of 2, they were also wound a bit hotter. Grind followed the C-series lead by also using 5 string pickups for 4 & 5 string models.

C-series were discontinued 2002 but loads of them were sold, eBay UK has at least one listed every week.

This is my C-5 before I went a bit silly with preamp and gold hardware.
Zephyr.jpg
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My friend Gillian's 2 Zephyrs.
Gillians Zephyr 5.jpg
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And lastly 2 owned by a German friend , Erik.
Zephyrs.jpg
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If you compare Erik's 2 Zephyrs on the right with his Grind far left, you'll see the differences. Grind body is offset in a similar manner as a jazz bass. Fret dots are off to the side not centred.
Axcelerator,B-90,B-Quad,Cirrus,Dyna,Dyna/Unity,Foundations,Forum,Fury,Gbass,Grind,International,midibase,Milestone III, Millenniums,Patriot,Resolite,RJ-IV,Sarzo,3 T40,T45,T20,TL-5,Tragic,Unity,Void,Zephyr5,3 Zodiac.

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studiodtk5
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Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by studiodtk5 » Sun Jan 08, 2023 2:47 pm

Thanks for the Clarifications! I did not remember the Zephyr bass. But being from the USA, I may never have know about it.

Great Collection!
Darren
ITOC: 08-00190

Peavey stuff I have: Masterpiece 50, Custom Shop 212, Stereo Chorus 212, T-60, T-40, Signature Select, Odyssey II Prototype, Generation Custom EXP, Firenza P90-ACM, VB-2, Stomp Boxes, Radial Pro 1000, lots of mics, etc...

kodiakblair
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Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by kodiakblair » Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:02 pm

studiodtk5 wrote:
Sun Jan 08, 2023 2:47 pm
Thanks for the Clarifications! I did not remember the Zephyr bass. But being from the USA, I may never have know about it.

Great Collection!
Aye , us Europeans saw more Peavey models than folks in the USA.

Along with the Zephyr/ C-series, we had passive quilt top versions of the Fury 4 to 6 and even an acoustic bass. Over the years I owned most of them, never did track down a passive Forum PJ. Managed to cram 51 of them in this photo.

Peavey 51 club .jpg
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Axcelerator,B-90,B-Quad,Cirrus,Dyna,Dyna/Unity,Foundations,Forum,Fury,Gbass,Grind,International,midibase,Milestone III, Millenniums,Patriot,Resolite,RJ-IV,Sarzo,3 T40,T45,T20,TL-5,Tragic,Unity,Void,Zephyr5,3 Zodiac.

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studiodtk5
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Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by studiodtk5 » Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:57 am

That’s an excellent collection. I don’t recall Peavey making an acoustic bass. All of the others look familiar-ish.
Darren
ITOC: 08-00190

Peavey stuff I have: Masterpiece 50, Custom Shop 212, Stereo Chorus 212, T-60, T-40, Signature Select, Odyssey II Prototype, Generation Custom EXP, Firenza P90-ACM, VB-2, Stomp Boxes, Radial Pro 1000, lots of mics, etc...

kodiakblair
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Posts: 325
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 6:05 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Identification? 5 String bass

Post by kodiakblair » Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:09 pm

studiodtk5 wrote:
Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:57 am
That’s an excellent collection.
Thanks.

I 'm not surprised some look familiar, had one from nearly every model released between 1978 and 2010. For some strange reason Forums always eluded me, I've the active single pickup version from 94 but not the PJ, Forum AX or Forum Plus. The collection was pretty much complete, that black/maple 4 string PJ front & centre in the photo is a Resolite; only 4 were ever made.

Living in the USA you would be unaware of the acoustic bass, Peavey customer service in Meridian are unaware of them :D The 'Aberdeen' acoustic bass were developed and marketed by Peavey Europe and sold only to the European market. They were only around for a couple of years 2002 to 2004/5.

Afraid the attached brochure doesn't give much info.
Aberdeen Bass 2002.pdf
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Axcelerator,B-90,B-Quad,Cirrus,Dyna,Dyna/Unity,Foundations,Forum,Fury,Gbass,Grind,International,midibase,Milestone III, Millenniums,Patriot,Resolite,RJ-IV,Sarzo,3 T40,T45,T20,TL-5,Tragic,Unity,Void,Zephyr5,3 Zodiac.

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